Hobbies and Interests

Over the years I have had many hobbies and interests. I spent a lot of time fishing and hunting with my family and friends. I enjoy everything from water skiing to team roping even though I am by no means an expert at either. When I lived in Missoula I got involved in competitive pistol shooting which is something I still love to do, although I no longer travel to compete.

For many years I have enjoyed building things out of metal. I have built everything from metal stands for trimming horse hooves, to large gooseneck trailers. And, although I have had no formal training  I have always had a tremendous interest in radios and electronics.

The Peacekeeper

Peacekeeper Before Restoration  Peacekeeper After Restoration

In 1999 The Sheriff’s Office purchased a surplus armored vehicle from the military to be used in tactical and rescue situations. Although I was not sure what the administration‘s plans were at the time, I did offer to help rebuild the vehicle. The County Shops hauled the vehicle, which is nicknamed the “Peacekeeper” to my residence where I took a closer look at it. The Peacekeeper had been rolled over, so the hatch and shield were smashed and 2 of the 4 doors were broken off. There was no transmission and both drive shafts were missing. The engine was held in by 1 bolt and leaning on the distributor. Other than that, she was in pretty good shape. I spent the summer of 2000 going to local businesses getting donations of parts and services.  Inland Truck Parts went through the running gear and built 2 new drive shafts. Hanser’s Automotive donated a transmission and torque converter. Duck’s painting painted the body, frame and wheels. Brad Ragan tire donated a set of tires and Auto Trim Design did the trim work and a spray in liner on the interior. I donated the labor to rebuild it from the ground up. In a March 2006 Police magazine there is an article featuring the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office. They have 2 Peacekeepers and the cheap one was around $16,000 to rebuild. Thanks to the donations from the Billings Business Community, our Sheriff’s office has less than  $2000 in rebuilding our Peacekeeper.

Romer

After the Peacekeeper project I returned to a project I had started a few years before, designing a radio controlled multipurpose robot to be used in rescue and reconnaissance operations. Since I was on the County’s Tactical Response Team I felt it would be useful to us in a variety of operations. After 3 prototypes I came up with ROMER 4. ROMER is an acronym for Remote Operated Mobile Electronic Reconnaissance. The number 4 was for the 4^th design I tried. I built the robot in my garage using my own design. Not long after that I took the robot to a Police Conference in Billings. Missoula County Sheriff Doug Chase saw the robot and invited me to Missoula to demonstrate it.

Members of his bomb team expressed interest in having me build a robot for their department. A few months later their Bomb team leader was picking up their own ROMER 4 at my residence.

ROMER dragging 2 Detention Officers Across the wet floor of the Missoula County Detention Facility	Robot I designed and built for the Missoula County Sheriff’s office

Thermal Imaging

Two years ago I obtained several thermal imaging cameras through a special program available to law enforcement. None of these cameras were in working condition, so using parts from each other, I was able to rebuild several working units. These units have been distributed throughout Montana including the Laurel Police Department and one that I'm currently working on for the Billings Fire Department Rescue Squad. Thermal imaging uses heat instead of light amplification to detect objects or persons whether day or night. These units can be used in Search and Rescue operations or criminal investigations where heat detection will aid normal vision. Not long after mounting one of these units on my patrol vehicle, I used it to locate a man that had walked away from his home and was stranded on a ledge.

Rebuilding a part to be used on the thermal imager.	Lens assembly from one camera being "transplanted" to another.